The other walk John Cannon wrote about in the Sunday Tasmanian was the walk along the crest of the Tinderbox Hills. This starts at the end of Estuary Drive, which is at the south end of Blackmans Bay. The track undulates quite gently along the ridge, offering good views to both North West Bay and the Derwent Estuary. This view is of Arm End across the river. There are a lot of tracks up here. My walk came to an end when I found the track firmly fenced shut and marked with a red rag. I backtracked and looked for another way, but didn't come across anything that looked likely. On looking at the map on the LIST once I got home, it seems the track I was on is the Mt Louis Road, and I should probably have kept going along it despite the fence. I didn't have a detailed map, as Service Tasmania seemed to have sold out of the Blackmans Bay 1:25:000 map when I went the other day. I think I'll just start printing maps out from the LIST or Google.Thursday, 7 August 2008
Tinderbox Hills - 7th August 2008
The other walk John Cannon wrote about in the Sunday Tasmanian was the walk along the crest of the Tinderbox Hills. This starts at the end of Estuary Drive, which is at the south end of Blackmans Bay. The track undulates quite gently along the ridge, offering good views to both North West Bay and the Derwent Estuary. This view is of Arm End across the river. There are a lot of tracks up here. My walk came to an end when I found the track firmly fenced shut and marked with a red rag. I backtracked and looked for another way, but didn't come across anything that looked likely. On looking at the map on the LIST once I got home, it seems the track I was on is the Mt Louis Road, and I should probably have kept going along it despite the fence. I didn't have a detailed map, as Service Tasmania seemed to have sold out of the Blackmans Bay 1:25:000 map when I went the other day. I think I'll just start printing maps out from the LIST or Google.
Fossil Cove - 7th August 2008
In the Sunday Tasmanian last weekend, John Cannon wrote about some walks south of Kingston. Firstly, there was the walk to Fossil Cove. A well made track descends to the coast from the end of Fossil Cove Road, which is a little way south of Blackmans Bay. The small cove has a variety of interesting features.
To the north is this natural arch, cut by the action of the sea into the Permian sedimentary rocks.
You could wade through the arch when the tide wasn't too high.
The cliffs here are formed of tilted layers of Permian rocks. The cliffs are somewhat fractured and crumbly, and overhang in places. You can fairly easily move southwards around the wave-cut platforms for a short distance.
In the rock platforms and cliffs are a great many fossils, hence the name of the cove. At high tide the platform would be awash, at least in places.
There is also this dyke of igneous rock which has intruded into the sedimentary rocks, cutting across beds, splitting them apart, and climbing the cliff. I'm assuming it's dolerite, as this is in evidence nearby at Tinderbox.
Wednesday, 6 August 2008
Collins Bonnet - 6th August 2008
Well, I had intended to go to Mt Field yesterday (5th Aug), but the Liberty threw a head gasket or two on the way (and possibly a head). Anyway, today I went to Collins Bonnet from Myrtle Forest, trying not to think evil thoughts about the organisation who sold us the vehicle very recently. It was quite a good day outside the Huon Valley permafog, and I made very good time up the hill (at least by my standards). The snow has almost disappeared, with just a few patches along the track, and only a bit visible around about. The sun was out and about, and there was only a gentle breeze. I have to admit that the permafog had lifted by the time I got to the top.
They've done good work on the upper bit of this track, on the section just below the East-West Firetrail. However, they now need to do some work on the boggy section above the firetrail, because it's now clear that the sidetracks are spreading. Maybe it's a good Green Corps job (although I think maybe Green Corps has died in the arse?) This photo shows Sleeping Beauty's nose. (It's her nose as viewed from the Huon). A couple of years ago, someone had been building a cairn on the nose as if to try to make the nose as tall as the actual summit on her upper lip. It has now fallen (or been pushed) down. the summit still ha s atrig marker. These have been removed from other locations, but this isn't a national park or WHA, so maybe is not a priority.
The ranger was up at the end of the road today, I think he was finishing off the new toilet. So for the facility-conscious, here's the new toilet at the end of the road.
Monday, 4 August 2008
Hartz Peak - 4th August 2008
Lovely clear day today, above the Huon Valley fog there wasn't a cloud in the sky at 10am. I was keen to have a look at the Hartz in the snow, and I hoped there might be a little less of it than last time I was there. All was good. There was some snow underfoot on the plateau, and more once above Ladies Tarn, but it had been a bit trampled by people who've been up in the last few days, which made it easier in most places. The only tricky bit was the very steep slope up to Hartz Pass, back down much of which which I managed to slide on my first attempt. This was of course a welcome feature of the hill on my return, where I made use of my bum-boggan to make a rapid descent.
Good views today, with quite clear air. I was joined at the summit by a bloke who had carried his (quite large) son to the top. I remember carrying my lot up there. The youngest are 12 now, so that stopped a long time ago. Anyway, this bloke agreed with me that the view was indeed difficult to equal. The air was actually completely still for part of the time I was at the summit.
I was interested to note that neither the bloke I met at the summit, nor the couple I passed on my return had filled in the log book. None of them were particularly well-equipped either, but then maybe I overdo it. (Although the young lady looked like she was dressed for shopping.) They won't come looking for you just because you're listed in the logbook, but once they've decided you are lost, the logbook would help. The other reason the logbook can be useful is if someone else gets lost - they can find out who was on the track and might be able to help with working out where a lost walker might have gone. As far as the amount of clothing people carry is concerned, today was a nice winter day, and the likelihood of sudden weather changes was low, however, people don't seem to consider what would happen if they were injured.
Hartz Lake was partially frozen over with what seemed to be a pretty thin skin of ice. I assume it may have been completely frozen over at times recently. This is a big lake, so it must have been fairly cold for it to freeze over. The ice persisted into the early afternoon today, although the sun was shining on it. As soon as a breeze got up, the waves started to break up the sheet of ice.
The mist in the forest on the way there today was really quite attractive. This particular section of the road is not very close to current forestry operations. I heard some quite bizarre bird calls here this morning, and I'm wondering if in fact I was hearing a Lyrebird.
Saturday, 2 August 2008
Pelverata Fungi
I think this one is Tremella fuciformis.
This one could be Phellinus wahlbergii. It was growing on a dead stump.
Peleverata Falls - 2nd August 2008
This is a good short walk when the mountains look rainy and you have to squeeze something less than epic in between trips to the tip and sweeping the chimney in the late afternoon once the firebox is cool enough. I haven't been for a number of years, but it hasn't changed much. The sign at the start of the walk says it's a 3 hour walk. I think it's probably more accurate to call it a 90-minute walk, and if you walk steadily you could do it in less than that. However, you will want to stop and take in the views here and there, or maybe photograph some fungi.....? As such it can easily occupy 3 hours. This photo was obviously taken by someone who scrambled up to the base of the falls.
These falls can show very high flow just after a good rain. They have a small catchment which drains quite quickly, but they only flow well for a short while after the rain comes. Today there was some flow, but it wasn't very spectacular. However, the cliffs and the valley are well worth the look and the relatively short walk. The walk is quite easy, although the last section is a bit of a goat track. I decided the flowers were a Sheoak (Allocasuarina monilifera), until I started looking at the Key to Tasmanian Seed Plants which is well worth a look, with the Allocasuarinas here. After a bit of ummm-ing and aaah-ing and getting more confused, I decided it was still a Sheoak, but I'm willing to be corrected. I'm not sure I've seen them in flower before.
Friday, 1 August 2008
Mountain River Trail Fungi
This last one was only about 3mm across, so presented some focusing challenges. Anyway, I obviously got it a bit wrong, because the front face of the mushroom isn't in focus. However, more interestingly, there was this tiny white spot scuttling back and forth on the head of the mushroom. It was too small to see what it was with the naked eye, however the photo reveals that it was a tiny bug - seemingly a spider, given the web that is visible. This little fellow is extremely small, only a fraction of a millimetre long. Amazing.
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